I roll into Odessa, and reminisced about being there two years prior. Armed with a slight knowledge about the centres layout, I make my way to the good pay phones, if such a thing is possible.

I walk to the Black Sea Hotel to use the pay phone and get some cash from the ATM. I call up Guy and he gives me his home address, and tells me how much I should be paying for a ride to his home from there.

Well the first driver tries to tell me its very far and will cost 100 UAH ! That’s about 75-80 higher than the norm, so I make my way to the local McDonald's and find a more civil fare.

Hotels are know to have higher prices for most services, and a 2 block walk can save you money, and more importantly not getting taken advantage of.

Pulling up to guys was refreshing, a nice little home with clean air, and low on noise. It was a complete transformation from my hotel stays. Guy gave me a tour of his place, and showed me how the place all works. Lot's of ways to doing things in his home. I needed some rest so I took a nap, and later we went to the beach. It was nice to sit on some foreign shore and speak English, all the while seeing slim topless girls!

Guy wanted me to teach at his school after some training to see if I could do it. I was not really crazy about trying it, but after some days past I headed off with him to check it out.

It became very clear to me that teaching wasn't going to happen, as I knew no grammar rules or how it all fits together. Ohh well I speak one language, and I do well at it, just don't ask me to explain the rules.

His classes were made up of mostly girls 80% for most levels, and it was nice to see the girls all into learning!

Other nights were spent in the nightclubs of Arcadia! This was the second time I had been there, and those unique clubs are of world calibre. Some nights were good, and some were boring, it all depended on my mood, and sometimes my thoughts on Olya kept creeping up and pissing me off.

I still had yet to get a phone, but was working on it, and I wanted to speak with Olya again. So I had Guy call up her aunt's home (Olya was staying there) She knows Spanish as Guy does so there would be no problem should Olya not be there.

After a couple of minutes in Spanish, Olya and I are speaking on the phone. Things seemed alright, I pissed her off and she wasn't interested in speaking to me. But I guess she was more forgiving than most, and I told her I'd like to call once I get my phone. She agreed and I was relieved! And why wouldn't she?

She was getting free English lessons, from an English speaker without any accent! (Canucks don't have accents) Once I had my phone I would call her every few days to just chat about whatever came up. She wanted to know about how my search was going, and if I had met with Anna again, as well just how life in general was in Odessa.

Anyway I got sick shortly after swimming in the sea, and couldn't move around for most of the week. The only highlight was Olya's SMS's being concerned about my health. Things seemed fine between us and I was thinking she could be a good friend down the road, but that wasn't to be. I only spoke with her very briefly after, and I could tell she was lying about having her cell phone stolen from a nightclub. Like I said she wasn't very convincing at telling lies. I let it roll off again, and mentioned that I may leave Ukraine very soon, and thought maybe I would stop in Zaporzhye to say goodbye to her.

She didn't sound too comfortable with that suggestion, and just said, " I don't know." We chatted for a few minutes, and it sounded like she was busy, so I asked if calling her the coming weekend would be better. We said our goodbyes, and when I went to call that Saturday, there was no answer. About a week went by and I decided to call her home, I was pissed at her for not answering the phone, and planned on letting her know.

I know normally back home I would of given up on this girl from day 3, but I found when I am in Ukraine boredom often reigns. And I tend to pursue things a bit too much. The days can be long, and uneventful until the night comes, only to have it start all over at 9am. Long walks and sitting on the beach can all be good in moderation, but for me it wears off quick.

So I made the call, mom answers and the little Russian I knew and tone she was asking, that she wanted to know how my girl search was going. She seemed happy to hear from me again, and I asked where Olya was. Her mom gave me a number to call.... Olya's cell number, the very number she told me was stolen weeks earlier. I repeated the numbers, and even got the house cleaner to confirm the numbers.

I thanked her mom and she could tell I was sad by getting the number. Afterwards I sent Olya an SMS telling her she didn't need to be that way, and she could of just been honest. I know its not easy, but she didn't seem to have any problem with it on the beach. She never replied, and I didn't expect her to.

In the meantime I was hanging out with Anna and some of her friends. It was great to have a little normal atmosphere, and Anna was always easy on the eyes!

So after some weeks had past, and not one prospect in sight, I began hitting the i-net cafes heavy in search of a better city to try. I refused to use AFA or Anastasia web more so Aweb, due to its dishonest management style. AFA couldn't give me an office to stop in at, so I discounted them on that alone.

I had also gotten in contact with a woman who once did work for Waveband and she offered to help me ,but again I felt like I gave them enough money. I settled in on Athena agency, they were open and very helpful. It’s too bad the girls in her agency (that I chose) were not that interested in meeting me or any guys for that matter.

I will give you a quick rundown. All the girls I picked spoke English without the aid of a translator. First girl had met what must of been a hundred guys, playboys, losers and more losers. She was a complete snob, but again I had nothing better to do that day, so I sat and chatted with her on a bunch of subjects.

Politics seemed to be a keen interest of hers; it was the only girl I met who spoke about it. The other 3 I picked were duds. One expected me to show up with about 1 hours notice. It wasn't possible, and she never bothered to call the office back to arrange another meeting. Another stood me up, claiming her father took ill suddenly and couldn't make it. And my favourite girl was an airline stewardess, who after reading another’s guys TR, I PMed him to ask if it was the same girl I had met. Yup it was, it was comical to know our dates, months apart were almost identical in how she behaved. We both call her Miss Sto

There was nothing I was interested in at Adam and Eva, so my new cities plan was in the early stages. Guy wasn't happy with me wanting to leave, but understood why I was going. He had his girlfriend try and find someone for me, but came up empty.

The best they came up with was sexy Sveta. She came over one night to Guys home for some drinks in the backyard. It was the first time I saw her and Donhollio was in lust to the 10th power! But she was a tough one to get close to, and I just let it be that she wasn't all that dialled into me.

I kept procrastinating, and I found out that Olya had gone to see her man in London. I must of stared at that screen for 2 minutes before moving to the next line. I couldn't believe it, even though I knew about her interest in him, I just never gave much thought to her flying there.

So now that my day was ruined, I was happy Guy and a couple of guys were going out to Palladium nightclub. I was not in a good mood, and while leaning up against a railing up come a blond girl asking if I speak English. She seemed so playful with her tossing her hair from side to side, and giving a cute little laugh. It was exactly what I needed at that moment, and I really think that after two months of failure, if my luck didn't turn around very soon, I was going home.

Before this I even had called up an ex bed mate just to shoot the shit with and without any language hassles. It was good to speak with her, not that she was very happy with this "stupid" idea of going there to find a girl, when I had one waiting at the other end of the phone. But I was here, and not back home for a reason.

So Kristina and I spent the night together, until the wee hours. Then she asks, if I will go shopping with her for some food. Shopping at 7am? Wow, ok

It was all very entertaining with her dragging me by the hand, up and down the aisles looking for food to make some fish soup. I was shocked to hear how demanding she was with the staff, but I said nothing.

To my surprise she didn't ask or even hint for me to pay for the food, and once outside we kissed and she sent me home in a taxi. Agreeing to meet again later in the week seemed like a good idea, but if I could of only seen into the future....

Why do I always seem to find them?

We did meet a few more times that week, but I knew it wasn't going to work. So I planned my departure to return to Zaporozhye. A city I told Olya I wouldn't go to if she wasn't there. But F@#$ HER !

Sweet Kristina she likes me but she's a wild one. And of course it's complicated like just about everything there. We've spoke about alot of things and she's even suggested getting a flat to rent when/ if I come back to Odessa. I am not planning on it ,and spoke with her about the things that bother me about her. She understands, and tries to reassure me about it, but like I say it's complicated. Let’s leave it at that.

So I took the 17hr. train back to Zapcity with 44 stops, and contacted Athena agency there along with" jasmine4u" Both have been great to me ,Irina and Svetlana at Athena have done an honest job getting the girls that want to meet me. Jasmine4u has since closed its doors.

So my first date at Athena went bad, like 4 minutes long! I couldn't believe it! She wanted to meet at this seafood place (here it comes again), I don't eat seafood and got there first. Having realized this when she came in, I told her let's go elsewhere. She said it's the only place she preferred to eat.

Yeah, that’s nice so I'll sit here and watch you eat than ? I didn't say that but sure wanted to. I told her again, I don't eat this food, than she had no time to go to any other place. I offered some tea. No. So we left. I said goodbye and that was it. You know I'm getting better at spotting the ones that just want a meal they never could afford themselves. She wasn't interested in me at all and that's cool . But to be so stupid to think I'm going to sit and watch her eat was beyond me. When I called Irina she was shocked to say the least.

I than had a date that early evening with Elena from the free personals. She was well mannered spoke very good English, and was very level headed. She said she liked me but I told her I didn't feel the same, I could tell she was down a bit over it and wished to hear from me again before I was to leave Zaporzhye.

O/O Karina from jasmine 4U came to the hotel, picked me up and we went to her office. I met her back in August and it was good to see her again. Her first words were, " So the mysterious Steve"

Arriving at her office she could tell I was still hurt from the Olya departure. I did my best to move on, but I think my body language was still giving me away.

We talked briefly about her, and I didn't want to make this an inquiry into her new life abroad, so Karina did what I had asked, to find me someone else to meet. Scanning through her profiles, I managed to pick about 3 or 4 girls. All were English speaking.I also decided to not base my search on age, and thought I'd just meet who I could.

One night I met Yulia. She was a very nice girl, friendly and willing to show me some of the sites in Zaporozhye. I saw her on a handful of occasions, and we both knew we were not heading down a romantic path. But it was just nice to have a person to share your time with.

Another was a young 22 yo. Dark hair very toned body and worked as a dance instructor. We had a 4 hour date at a popular place on Lenin prospect. (The longest in the FSU ) She later asked if I could walk her to the bus stop, and I suggested I will cover her taxi ride home. But she would have none of that, and wanted to stroll up the prospect to her cross street. Guys her stop took us 45 minutes to walk there, I was rather tired after all of it ,and still had to walk back to the hotel, that was less than a five minute walk from where we left.

She told me to call her, and I never did call her until a few days later. I knew it wasn't going to work, but she was going to make some guy very happy one day.

Another was a girl closer to my age and as Karina called described her having, "electric eyes"! And she did ! Big bright eyes, with a typical FSU body to match. She was very pretty, but as the night progressed, she struck me a not being the person I'd want to be with. I don't know why I never gave her a second chance, she too wanted to meet again but yet it was after months of being there, I began to think I was just going through the paces. Svetlana was worth the second date, and to this day I still think "what if."

I don't recommend this approach to finding a FSU wife; it can do alot of damage to your sleep.

I also made a call to Kristina during this week, and we discussed a host of things. She is not happy I left Odessa, and I did have a hard time believing what she was telling me, but I knew in my heart it would not work either. She wants to see me when I get back, and I suppose I'll take her up on it.

Zaporozhye was also where I ran into my first pro dater. She was not from jasmine4u but was on a few agencies websites. She was a short good-looking stacked blonde , just how I like 'em We had a lunch date ,and that day I held off having my usual morning meal of cheese, fruit and slices of meat. So by 2pm I was getting hungry. Ilona agreed to meet me in the hotel lobby, and my plan was to just head next door to the restaurant for the lunch date. As soon as we met she offered a place to eat. I had never heard of it before, so I reluctantly agreed.

I was a nice little place, not busy at all (bad sign) and we were the only ones there. The food was passable, and during our time I asked her what she likes to do during her free time. Well the answer I got was so rehearsed, and it went on for about a minute and a half! It was at this point I knew, this wasn't going to be good. And with her making eyes at the waitress, than saying she should go call a taxi, as her lunch time was almost over and she had to return to work.

I was seated with my back to all the comings and goings in the place, and that only worked to their advantage. She returns and soon the bill is placed at our table. Almost 300 UAH / $60 I look at her and she’s already looking at me, with a weary look on her face. I say nothing, but she could tell I didn’t believe this crap food cost the sum on the bill.

Earlier she told me she has met many guys, and even worked the doors at the AFA socials that came to town. So I think she had this gig almost down to perfection, she just needed to work on her facial expression when the bill comes. That was the end of seeing her for a few days.

In the hotel I met a Canuck from Ottawa, he claimed her was there to site see and take in the Cossack history. Seemed strange, but I wasn't about to derail him, even though he asked a bunch of questions on girls, and the FSU pursuit.

It was good to spend the free time I had with Robert, as we did try to find some interesting things to do, since he was travelling without an itinerary. I suggested he come with me to Odessa, see that city before flying off to Kiev. He was thinking of just flying to the UK visiting there until his flight home. But I told him about Guy and the fact they both were ESL teaches helped to convince him to tag along.

My week in Zaporozyhe was coming to an end. I had wanted to go to Poltava from there, but the agency was never returning any emails, and when I would call them they told me it was a PC problem. I wasted a entire month trying to get what should of been a simple two or three emails, turns into a mess. I never did get there, and planned to return to Odessa.

I did see Ilona one more time but it was in a local I-net cafe and she was with some western guy who couldn't get his visa card working. Lucky shmuck ! When I turned around to say hello to her, she seemed surprised and quickly went to the booth where the guy was! As I finished up I walked past and said," Hope everything works out in the future for you." BTW I don't see her on the agencies I once did, so maybe she did found some guy.

Robert and I got back on that pathetic train, 17 hours on the little train that barely could. No plane and the bus from what I've been told by one guy we met in the hotel is worse. He had to stand for the first 4-5 hours! Odessa will arrive at 04:25.

Once in Odessa I got him to the Irish Pub as his room he rented was just across the street. I later went on my way to Guys home, and 45 minute ride by mini bus. Got settled in, and had some sleep.

It was late October and I had been in Ukraine since the second week of August, Odessa was a comforting place. I knew my way around, had English support in place, and Anna & friends. Even though Anna was going through some tough personal times, we did manage to meet during my stay there at least two times a week. I did my best to help her along, but I think time was going to be the only cure.

Guy enjoyed meeting Robert, tried to convince him to give teaching at his school a try, and said he'd give it some thought. It was Halloween night and even though it’s just starting to gain in popularity there, the Irish Pub had a special night of it. Costumes, games, and even a pumpkin carving contest!

Though the highlight for me was seeing two children maybe seven years old playing the VLT's (slot machines) !!! Even Matt who lives there running his rental flat business http://www.odessarentaflat.com found it so disturbing. Get'em while their young; Its too bad the photo I have of it is of such poor quality, its not worth posting.

During this time I worked on a new city, Dnepropetrovsk. Hours spent in the i-net café, getting it all together, and waiting on replies. More on that later.

Nice job with the photos Wiz, I like it better than me doing it. Photo's of Odessa ..... it's like my second city.

Goodby Odessa and Hello Dnepropetrovsk

Odessa in late October gets rather quiet when compared to the summer season. I'd have to say its like most other Ukrainian cities during this time. The tourists have long gone home, all the beaches are shutdown for the year,and its kinda empty.

So I spent my time in the internet cafes, browsing the sites for more girls to contact . Hours & days later I decided on the city of Dnepropetrovsk! I sent my info off to 5 star introductions, and had a prompt reply. It was a huge change from the Poltava BS I endured for weeks.

When I recieved the agencys reply I was told all the girls agreed to meet me. When she said that I laughed and told her," I don't have that kind of luck ! "

But with the way things have been going for me in Odessa I really want to get out.I also made some head way with the Poltava agency,they have the info and photo's ,and I was to go there after my Dnepropetrovsk visit.

But before I left I had been hanging out with Kristina, she would suprise me with the things she'd say to me when I was in Zaporozhye, but I knew it would be a bad idea to continue with her.

It was Saturday night and Guy and some of his teachers and students were heading to the Yo club. Very interesting club as are most of Odessa's nightclubs, nothing about them is ordinary. As time ticked by Kristina was getting annoyed by the loud "Boom Boom" as she called it,and wanted to leave to go elsewhere.

I was all for it as I hate dance music,and was game for anything. We went walking to find a taxi ,and than out of nowhere she starts in about me and money.

Two nights before I told her I didn't have alot on me maybe 200 UAH. And I couldn't take more out of the ATM until the next day. I took a bunch out earlier in the day, and left it at home. So she didn't want to understand all this ,but I had enough to cover it all. She brings this up again, and I tell her to drop it. I'm sick of hearing about it.

She than tells me that's the way it is in UA, men pay always. I told her again if I can't take $$$ out how do I pay? She lives in a cash world, so I suppose she thinks it's a big lie on my part. So finally we get into a cab and head off.

She wants to make a stop at her sisters along the way,and leaves me in the taxi. After 10 minutes shes not back, and the guy is getting pissed at me. So I tell him to return to the Yo Club. At this point I've had enough of her, and send her she finally calls about 1/2 hour later wondering where I am .

I tell her and she's not happy, and wants me to return to her. I tell her no, and she can come back here. I think you can tell how this is going to end ?

I send her a SMS telling her goodbye. Now Kristina is really mad and I didn't really care ,you don't want to show any respect towards me ,go to hell. She calls back again and rants on for about 5 minuites. She made the call and I guess she wanted to give me a blast, cause she never wants to use up her time on the phone. All the while I'm in the WC at the Yo Club, swearing at her in English, and this guy walks by and starts laughing! I could just imagine what he was thinking

She hangs up on me, and than the SMS messages start, and she was fuming !

I haven't spoke to her she's nuts and I'm out . At least it filled the void of time while I was here. And she was a lot of fun half the time ,but that's no good. I came here to find a good one ,not someone like this . I just finished it off by sending a SMS, since she won't answer my call wishing her the the best in the future.

I do expect next week to be more normal than this one. Rob was making the best of his stay in Odessa. Went on a few dates,and was ready to head off with me to Dnepper.

So it was back to the 17 hour train that comes complete with 44 stops at every village one could imagine. I have to say the slow speed it travels allows me to sleep quite fine,and having Rob with me makes the ride seem a fraction of the time it was when I did it alone.

Arriving in Dnepropetrovsk

We arrive it's morning and I call the agency as we have a apartment booked, and are looking to get a shower. The taxi driver is lost and very confused as to the address,yet were in the centre,and after 20 minutes were there !

The "swank" flat was something you ask yourself, " A designers first kick at the cat ?" I was hoping to find some velvet ,but none was to be found !

I arrive at 5 stars and meet one of the girls working there, Katya, shes a knockout ! But shes all business,and I was ready to start setting up dates of the girls I had asked to meet.

Turns out Angelika network let's the girls pick their English ability, not the agency. This can get annoying, as one girls English 3 for instance is hardly a level 3. Anyways most of the girls wanted a translator, and many weren't able to have a basic conversation even though they claimed to have level 3.

So Katya went to work on finding some girls who could carry on a conversation in English. She came up with a bunch and I deleted the list down to about 6 or 7. From there Katya called them up and gave a brief description about me,and they all were interested in meeting me.

I had met two and they went nowhere, thankfully it was mutual. However one was a bit rude with me ,yet after Kristina it was just something to laugh at !

I suppose when she first walked into the agency office, that 3 second rule kicked in.

I wasn't interested at all in her, but thought were here let's see what may happen.

Out on the street, she points and asks if this place will be good to eat at. The parking lot has its fair share of luxury auto's, so I tell her no we'll go next door, I'm not buying you dinner.

In the other nice restuarant we have a seat in the lounge and she orders a juice. I get a beer, and I can tell she's not in the mood for any of this. Our drinks arrive and I make the most of the situation, even though she was short with her answers. She asked me some things,and we make small talk. She downs the juice in a few minutes, and I ask if she'd like another. She does ! Ohh goodie !

Another juice comes and more useless chat about things, than I have only a gulp left in my beer, so I ask, " Would you like to go now?"

Da !!! was her reply and she guzzles the remaining juice down, gets up from the table ,and goes to the coat rack,all in about 10 seconds! I remain seated ,finishing my beer,than get up and help her with her coat.

We walk outside and approach the curb where her mini bus had just pulled up, she steps on without missing a beat,and never looks back.

"Your not even going to thank me for the two glasses of juice !" Never to be seen again.

My other dead end date went a slight bit better, however we both weren't having a connection,and although she spoke good English,she didn't have much to say and chose to sit and enjoy the salad. Whatever, if a late afternoon salad and drink is a highlight in your day ,than who am I to trash it.

I than had a date with a girl I wouldn't of picked if it weren't for Katya at 5 stars. At first I was leary of meeting a girl 14 years my junior,but Katya told me she's a very nice girl. So I thought why not, it beats sitting around the apartment and walking endlessly around the city for hours. During these walks I would drop in to a hotel and see what they had to offer. Well it wasn't much, $ 60 a night, and I'd give it maybe one star.

But today was the day to meet Olga ! She was as nice as the agency had said, and it was nice to just head out and have some laughs,and not have to worry about her freaking out on melike Kristina! During our 4 + hour date I mentioned to Olga that I needed a place to rent, as the tacky place I was in wasn't worth the $80 they were trying to get from me. So she went to work getting some numbers for me to call.

I never really questioned how she was able to find these people ,but figured it may just be that she has met alot of guys and knew of the places they stayed. Back at the apartment Robert and I were disscussing how our day went, I told him about Olga,and how nice it was to meet her. He was departing for Kiev soon than back home. So I needed to find a place soon, as the $80 a night was going to eat up my budget faster than I had wanted. The good thing about staying in Odessa and living with Guy was that the rent was about $130 a month.

Now I was using up more than that in two days,and after being in the country for 11 or 12 weeks, I had to keep a watch on where the money was going.

Robert and I would head out and site see when we had nothing on the agenda,however living in a apartment isn't always without its problems.

In the morning we both headed out and as soon as we were downstairs some lady starts in on us! We didn't have a clue what she was going off on ,until we peiced it together that she thought we were bringing working girls up to the unit. We laughed it off, and assured her it wasn't us who had those loud girls last night !

We killed a few hours and went to have some food, I asked Olga to meet me after we both ate,and it worked out good because her classes were finished at that time.

We met Olga outside and I said my goodbyes to Robert, and we both agreed to keep in contact. It was great having him with me for almost two weeks, it sure helped pass the isolation you can experience being here for so long. I'm happy to say we still remain in touch, and he recently got married to a girl, but not from the FSU.

5 stars was doing an excellent job,at setting up girls to meet. She asked if I wanted to meet another girl who was very serious,and spoke good English.

Her name was Katya. She never came up in my original search from Odessa, as I had my height restriction of 170cm's, Katya was 175. I had never dated a tall girl,but was willing to give it a go.

By this time I was getting my girls mixed up, during my lunch date in the middle of Katya's workday, I mention her being a doctor. Opps...... She gave that sly smile, and told me I must have her mixed up with some other girl. Uhh yeah, sorry.

She was ok with it, and she offered up her email and telephone number during our drink and salad. Walking back near Karl Marx she said I can call her, and we'll meet again !

At this time I was begining to wonder what if I had started looking in this city months ago,instead of wasting so many weeks sitting in Odessa. I was thinking maybe my luck had changed after all !

In two days I have second dates with two girls,where as in Odessa it was hopeless.

Olga seemed happy to be out with me, and I wasn't finding anything to complain about with her, so all was good ! So we headed off in a taxi to go see one of the apartments. The view was nice, it overlooked the river and at night, and the bridge close by was lit in rainbow colors.

But the place was in need of a total renovation,everything was old and I suppose for the $25 p/n I paid, I shouldn't of expected much else. But it was a change from the other joint, however while you had the view, I was awoken at 5 am by the traffic. It was horrible and I couldn't sleep there another night.

I was enjoying my time with Olga so much so, that I hadn't called Katya for that second date. Olga was asking how long I was going to be in Dnepropetrovsk, I told her it could be a day , a week or months,and it all depended on things went for me.

I'm thankful I found little Olga,I was seeing her daily and even cancelled 2 other dates to spend time with her.

She was also inquiring about how many other girls I was here to meet,she understands that she wasn't the only one.

I did find it difficult telling her about these meetings , but she's cool with it and I told her I'd rather spend my time with her, and not them.

She never thought I would call her back after the first meeting, and the SMS I sent her really made her feel good. I don't think many of these girls get completments very often, what would be considered "cheesy" in Canada isn't here .

She showed my SMS to her friend and she too was equally impressed. I didn't think it was a "fromage" SMS at all, but Rob thought it was a bit of one. All I said was more or less "her smile and beautiful eyes can clear up any rainy day".

The weather's been bad here for almost a week, so it was kind of fitting.

It was during this time in Dnepropetrovsk, that I seeked out another agency I had not heard of until my 3rd trip while staying in Zaporozhye for the second time. Cindy Agency was to be the next agency I used, I had been warned by one guy in Zap. that they are not the most honest agency. So I figured I would just drop in to their office down on Karl Marx and see what happens.

In the very small office,were a group of girls,and one girl up front handling all the WM looking for love. I took a seat next to another guy, and he sparked up a conversation on how the search was going. I told him I had been at it since August,and it's now November .... not good ! But hell it was fun sometimes, little did I know this was going to be the start of some good camaraderie of my 22 weeks in Ukraine.

While Jim and I were talking another chap came in, he was younger looking than both of us,and he took a seat on the otherside of the room. Again Jim didn't take long before he had the UK guy telling us of his life's love story. We were laughing and Richard seemed to have a similar outlook on it as I did, if it happens it happens, find some humour in it and keep going.

Jim's date shows up, and he's off but not before we exchange phone numbers,saying we'll meet up tomorrow. Richard is getting taken to his apartment ,and I ask if he has a UA phone, he doesn't and seem reluctant to getone, preferring to use his UK number. Though Jim and I told him to buy a SIM card he declined our advice and later regretted it with his $600 bill upon his return home.

While I was going through the profiles, I had picked out a few,and the office would call the girls and see if they'll meet me. It was also during these couple of days that I met Henry, at first I thought he worked for Cindy Agency as he was speaking Russian to another interrupter who was with a client. It's a very small office and they were talking half English half Russian. She was saying how good his Russian was,and he played it down. Than I mentioned he should call my friend Guy in Odessa and work at his English school.

Henry than made some reference to his city and it turns out he's from Winnipeg ! It was hard to believe, all this distance and we live a few klicks away from each other. Larissa was enjoying her time with her client who I think hired her all day long for two weeks. She wished Henry luck with his search,and even though I said maybe two words to her she remembers me because I was wearing my McLenin's t-shirt.

Lenin's head under the golden arches on the front ,with the hammer and sickle along with some buildings burning on the back. She did laugh when she saw it,as many McD's workers in UA do as well.

I leave Henry with his phone number in my phone,and I'm thinking how I come to Dneper. to meet girls and wind up having a few guys numbers instead.

I leave Cindy Agency and tel them I will drop in tomorrow to see what she has lined up. I meet up with Olga again,and we have a fun time,and for now after 19 weeks, I'm happy to just have a girl I can have some laughs with. We had gone to some Turkish places she was really into the water bong, she called it something else but I forget.

I was without my traveling companion Robert,but with the other three guys I should be able to fill my daytime hours doing what we guys do to kill time between waking up and waiting until our date is off work and ready to meet us. For those who have yet to venture over there,the hours can be very long. No reading comprehension of simple street signs,or just being able to ask for directions anywhere and for the most part, no English TV to watch. So you tend to walk it off,and walk ,and walk. I had my routine down weeks prior. Rise from bed at 10am,get ready over the next 1.5 hours,hit the market for the days supplies,then go eat some lunch. Do some walking,maybe take in a market or visit the internet cafe,and have a beer or two before heading home to get ready for the early evening date. Yeah get ready for the date ,meanwhile I'm spotless,my hands haven't touches anything dirty in weeks. My clothes are always clean,and I'm basically bored,but like all good inmates you have a routine to get through the day.

Well so I have been told

The following day I met up with Jim and Rich,we have some food at McDonald's and swapped our FSU tales. Jim's was quite interesting,he was in Dnepper for the month and had previously been married to a girl from Dneper. Rich was on his first trip and at 25yo he had already been to Venezuela ,and wound up on some sex tour by mistake So he thought he'd try to not repeat that and had been writting to some Cindy girls, Three of which he came to meet.

They both seemed interested and somewhat amazed that I had lasted so long in Ukraine,I was sharing those same thoughts,and my breaking point was not far off.

When I returned to Cindy Agency,she had one date for me. One right out rejection,and i was happy to hear the employee saying your better off not meeting her. Hmm, I took that as a good sign and that I could put alittle more trust in her,as now I could squeeze a bit on the girls personality before committing my time and a bit of cash on.

My first date with Cindy Agency was with a girl a few years younger than me, who spoke good English. She's still on the website,and while we never worked out, I am sure she would make a fine girlfriend. We had our first date at some restaurant,it went very good and the hours past fairly quickly. She had just gotten a new phone number as she had some men problems and had to change it. It was during this evening that she told me she had a guy stalking her,and it was an ongoing thing for the past two years.

I was hoping he wouldn't get in the picture while we were out but hey, that would be too much to ask for.

A nice girl who really is never going to last,yet I enjoy hanging out with her

Another girl who showed much interest,yet I have been unwilling to call her back

A few really unless dates,but have met some guys to pass our time with

Life with Rich makes me increase my drinking,and yet it seems normal. I'm starting to think 20 weeks in UA is too much ,and I better bail before I get fully assimilated. Days pass with Olga,and things are not progressing as they should if there was a interest. To me thats fine,but I was starting to see where I stood in our friendship. She was leaning towards dinners,and drinks,even wanting me to buy her some school book. At one point I told her were not going there,and yet she walked me right to the place ! I told her again ( feeling slightly used) that I'm not going there,and if you want to spend time with me ,than spend time with me,but it's not going to be all this bullshit.

I wasn't happy and it was at this point I thought why am I bothering,we not going to become anything, and with that she walked one way ,and I went the other. She didn't seem mad,maybe just a bit bewildered as to my behaviour. Following this I called up Katya,she told me she was ill. Great, the "I'm sick bit" : So I told her I will call again ,and wished for her to get better. A few days later Katya was still ill,but wanted to see me and so we met for the second time in a nice pub/resturant called the Reporter on Karl Marx. Spread over three floors it has a little bit to offer as a setting for any date.

During this date with her my phone rang,first thing I thought was, "shes going to think its another girl!" I look at the number and don't reconise it. It's a UA number and shes looking at me like, " Are you going to get it?" So I answer it and it's Susha, Olga's friend,and she was wondering if I was with her as she couldn't reach her on her phone. My reply went something like , " Umm,no.. no shes not with me... No I don't know where she is.... yes I will tell her you want to speak with her."

Katya now has this sly smile ,and asked if Susha has lost her friend. I found it suprising Susha had my number, and maybe Olga was sitting beside her I really don't know. But the Kat was cool with it,and we continued our date. Than another call comes in... Jim wants to know what I'm going to do tonight. I tell him I'm out with Katya,but will be game for something after the date. He's suprised my date was still going after a few hours. Hey,what can I say ?

Some minutes goes by and my phone rings again ! " Hi Richard, yeah I'll be up for something after my date." Was how it sorta went. Katya seems somewhat amused by all this ,after all a foreign man is in her country and he has the phone ringing on a regular basis. While Katya and I were chatting away my phone rings again, it's Henry,and you guessed it he's looking for something to do now as well. I get off the phone and wonder why they don't call each other instead of using me as the 'go to' guy.

After the call was done,Katya tells me they must miss me,but I tell her they can wait. I hadn't seen her in almost a week,and I was really enjoying her style.

Our date wrapped up about 10pm and I walked her back to her place,telling her I was hoping to see her very soon. She felt the same.

In the four hours or so we were talking about many things, she was a very popular girl at the agency/s,and the SRM stories she had to tell ranged anywhere from the hilarious to the very depressing. I told her to write a book,and I still wish she and other popular girls would tell their tales on these forums.

I soon began calling back the guys, Henry was out as it was too late for him. Richard was all ready and Jim was restless. So we went to a pub and had some drinks. Jim bowed out early and Richard and I kept drinking, though I was at a moderate pace ) Across the room was a table with two girls and two guys. Richard always willing to break into a scene ,managed to start up a conversation with one of them. Some guy who lived in Denepropetrovsk,who wanted to join us as his table was leaving.

So once again theres three guys and were having some laughs,when he decided it's best to leave and go elsewhere up the street to Reporter. Down in the basement there we were sitting at the gothic like table having some beer. I'm alittle bored at this point and so I figure WTF , I'll call up crazy Kristina ! Rich and the UA guy are loaded and yelling, but they were having a ball ! I scroll through my phone and call up Kristina ,thinking she'd be up at 3:30am Rich was laughing at seeing this and couldn't believe I was going to call her. Kristina answers ,and I say "Hello" she goes . " Vat ! You crazi ! I sleep ! " And hangs up ) I was truely suprised she was sleeping,guess theres a first for everything ! About 4 ish we all call it a night,and taxi off in different directions.

As strange as it sounds things with Olga were fine,I guess both of us knew it wasn't going to happen,so just enjoy the time while it lasts.One evening her friend and her Turkish boyfriend, who she met the night we were all at a local club, decided to head out for dinner. It was a low key place,and I figured things with the girl and her stalker should get ironed out before I get caught in the middle of something, I'll have no control over. So at this point I had Olga,and Katya.

I spent a few evenings with,Olga ,Susha, and the Turk. It was all fine,and I never regreted it. We even took in a few dinners together,the last dinner I had with them, was a memorable note, aside for the food poisoning. As we were getting ready to leave the fast food place one night, Olga and I got up and put our coats on. I pulled out a pack of gum ,and offered it to the three of them. Susha and her man still sitting declinded, and Olga accepted.

I wanted to see what the reaction may be from what I was about to do,and I suppose I was not going to worry about the outcome! So I pulled a stick out and tossed it on the table... " Don" !!! came from Susha with big eyes of disbelief ) The Turk looked somewhat puzzled,and Olga I imagine wondered what was wrong with me. Ahh ,life in the west ! )) So with my grin about to break wide open ,I ever so nicely picked it up from the table ,unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth. ) Minutes later we parted ways,and I'd call her the following day. I call a maybe an hour later telling her I feel sick form the food. She says shes fine, and not to worry about it. Well I tossed my dinner moments later,and told her what happened , wondering if she was still fine. She was,and I wondered if I had a egg reaction. Next day I felt fine, and little Olga was not. She was really sick and I told her, it wasn't just me,that something we ate was a tad off. She thought it was the mushrooms. By this point the fellas and I had somewhat of a routine during the day, we'd meet at McDon's on Karl Marx, have a bite. Than walk about the shops,while we spoke about our previous nights date. Jim had been with one girl for almost 4 weeks,and he was getting tired of the routine that ran on a cronalogical like pace. He was spending a fair amount of the early evening date,one inturp,dinner for three and taxi fares home. It all seemed like he was going through the paces while there was no excitment from the way he told it to us. While I had fairly normal dating situations,and Rich was having fun with one girl ,but we both told him to move on as she was not relly interested in him. Of course he never took our advice ( Typical damn newbie )

Jim and Rich had not been to 5 Stars agency,so I took Jim there one day. It's always good to go there and see the other Katya, man what a killer ! Jim tried to make his move ,but she told him it was company policy not to date the clients. Well I guess thats a nice way to tell him ) During our stop at 5 Stars, Jim and I start talking about girls and I ask Katya( 5 stars) about the stalker girl... opps wrong agency ( I than tell her things with Katya and I are going good, but shes sick. I also mention Olga is sick too, she looks at me and I tell her it's the truth, there really sick ! Jim's laughing and I had a chuckle over it too, Katya (5 stars) just smiled with a 'whatever you say Don' look.

At this point I was dateless ,with both girls being sick Jim had a date with another girl and asked if Rich and I along with Rich's date would join them at a club that looked like a old style sailboat. We agreed and it would be the first time Jim and I would meet the girl Rich has been talking about, why we both didn't know,but whatever. We all head off in a small station wagon taxi, theres no room in the seats for me ,so being the 5th wheel, I get tossed in the back near the hatch. Way too many minutes later we arrive, I tell them I'm not paying for this ride at all, and we all had a laugh.

The place was alright inside, Jim and I both wondered why Rich was with this girl, she made no attempt to talk to any of us,and she spoke no English. She wouldn't even speak to Jim's date who was very good with the English. Instead she just kept her back to us while taking in the atmosphere. After some time I looked at Jim and said I would dump the chick on the spot! He agreed and we both couldn't believe she totally ignored us,and only turning to Rich when he finally had her drink. The night ended quite uneventfully, Jim and his date went in a taxi with me,and Rich and his anchor took off in another taxi.

The next day we met up again,and both of us gave Rich our opinions on her. I was being nice, Jim just said it as I would of wanted. Of course he down played it,and we both gave up shortly after. Jim was wanting to help him find a good girl,so much so that he called up a girl he had met before. She was willing to meet with us for a drink during the afternoon,Rich seemed ok with it,and when she entered the room I thought if Rich lands this girl ,he's doing damn good ! She was a good looking well spoken girl,in his age range,and yet he never tried ,even though she was open for any conversation with him. Jim kept tring to get him into the mood to carry on, but he for the first time we noticed was rather speechless. Go figure. Her time was up, and she had to go, never to be seen again.

So it was back to walking and I mentioned I needed a pair of gloves,as it was now November and the highs were about 2-5c. So James takes me to a large open market,and we see a guy selling gloves. I try on a couple of pairs,and for some reason I ask Jim about how they should fit and warmth. He's from the sunbelt ! WTF does he know about winter ! ) So now I'm all decked out, I have my new leather jacket,I got in Zaprozhye,and now my leather gloves,which BTW do a shitty job at keeping your fingers warm in the cold temps.

I had mentioned that Katya had a friend about Rich's age,and offered to hook them up. Rich was in,but this left Jim out as his girl went home every night at the same time 8:30pm. I had planned on the two girls, Rich and myself, to just head out to enjoy the night. But Jim was pretty much finished with his girl, he no longer really wanted to see her. And nothing came from his date at 5 Stars. So he worked his way into the still yet to be confirmed night out. Now I understood Jim to be a man on a mission,he wasn't going to waste a day not in the pursuit of a girl,and to be honest I really admired his determination. After all I had been in UA since the 2nd week of August and it was now mid November,and I really had nothing to show for all my time. While I tried to convince Jim that the girl was only 20ish yo and Katya was with me there wasn't much point in tagging along. But he wanted in and I suppose I knew exactly how it feels to be sitting in a strange country, unable to move about comfortably as one could back home. So I let it slide,and thought we would all have fun together anyways, so what would it matter. And since Jim was leaving the following morning back home, I didn't want him to spend his last night alone in his apartment.

The big night finally took place,and again we met up at the Reporter,this time the top floor where I suppose it's fairly upscale compared to the two lower levels. So the girls were already there,as the three of us entered the room. Jim commented on how nice Katya looked,somehow I figured he would. After doing the introductions Jim and I sat together on the sofa, while Rich sat beside Oylessa and Katya. It all seemed good, Rich and Olyessa were laughing it up ,and Jim and I were laughing at Rich's crazy stories that we both agreed we'd never tell a girl on a first date ,let alone years down the road !

Katya and I were making convo and knowing Jim was the 5th wheel this time I would include him in ,not wanting to make him feel alone on his final night. Well I guess Jim felt his mission wasn't over yet and seemed to take a real liking to Katya. I was somewhat surprised that he'd even be trying while I'm still in the room never mind the fact I had been seeing her,and he was well aware of it ! Katya didn't seem to mind speaking with him at all. She was laughing and smiling and it was like now I was the 5th wheel WTF ? So I decided I would just sit back and see where this was going,why I don't know, I do know most guys would of asked Jim to shut up or leave,but I just was watching Katya thinking maybe this is one way to prevent a train wreak in the making. There's no point forcing the issue was my thinking.

And to think Jim complained about Henry mowing his lawn with his very good Russian in front of his date,now it seemed I was getting the same treatment only from Jim ! I turned to him and called him Henry,hoping it would pop him back into a more courteous self. It had no effect,than later on he asks me if it's alright for him to ask for Katya's phone number !! WTF !!!! I'm thinking OK, I'm going to go to the WC and if he asks that's one thing, if she gives,well than there's no point in continuing with her at all, contrary to what she has been telling me. So to the WC I go and from there I send Rich a SMS asking if he has asked Katya for the number. The reply comes back ,Yes. I just couldn't believe it,here's a guy I enjoyed being around for over a week,and a girl who I really liked,and I have paired them up with little regard for my feelings. Being somewhat laid back I returned to my spot on the sofa and pretended all was fine. My views on Katya were destroyed,and my trust in Jim was gone. I don't blame Jim for not liking her,she is a beautiful girl,but shit that's my date dude. I convinced myself it was for the best,and told Jim I wasn't paying for this night out,he seemed fine with it,but could tell I was pissed at him.

Outside we parted ways, Jim took a taxi back alone,Ilyessa went off and I walked with Rich back to Katya's place. I was kinda at a loss for words after the way this night went,and yet Katya was ripping a strip off Jim for being so arrogant I told her it didn't seem like you minded his company very much,but she wasn't happy with his actions at all. Now I was really confused, you talk to a guy all night, give your number and he's an ass in your eyes ? Shit I thought I was understanding UA girls, but it has all gone down the hill after hearing that coming from her.

At her gate she stood there and I was just wanting to say goodbye,yet she was waiting for a kiss. I wasn't going to budge, than Rich said ," Are you going to give her kiss goodnight ?" So I gave in and I was to call her after work, man was I confused. Rich was shocked at Jim's behaviour and was thinking very much along the lines of me in how disrespectful he was towards me,and for the most part I was glad he was leaving in the morning. Rich was telling me he had never met a girl like Olyessa who was so much fun to be around. Together they sure seemed to be having a great time,I was hoping it would lead to more dates. While walking down Karl Marx, Rich asked if there was some club we could go to, I told him there's this fire trap of a club called Labyrinth. As the name implies it's a few clubs within a club, up some stairs to a strip joint where the tiny room is full of girls all shaking what they got,and some got alot ! A few nights before Jim and I went there, and while we took up a stool at the bar, a girl each came to give up a lap dance,we both declined,but they didn't take Nyet as an answer !

After a two minutes the song ended and Jim offers 10 UAH , 25 was the reply ! " 25 !" Jim shouts back and I just quietly handed over 20 UAH to my girl just to get her off my stool,figuring if I disputed her 'services' I'd only get tossed out or roughed, up and or poisoned So you pay to keep things quiet. I turned to Jim and we both agreed this place was going to take all our cash in the next few songs, so we better go back down and see the dance club.

So back to Rich and I. Were both sitting in a grotto part of the dance club and Katya is sending me SMS's. Rich is telling me she obviously likes me if shes sitting there sending me a handful of messages. True but the night has really sent me for a loop. Maybe she too was just being nice,who knows. We wrap the night up after a few beers,and the following morning Jim is calling me. I'm thinking I should really give him a blast, but I know I should have said something the night before. He was already on the plane and I guess he too was thinking what an ass he'd been. He had mentioned to me days before how he had done things that he would never of done back home,nothing illegal just things that went against his moral code. He asked if I was pissed at him,and I told him I wasn't overly happy with his performance the night before. He apologised,and I could tell he felt truly remorseful for being such a schmuck,and I told him we'll keep in touch whenever I get back home. By this time the plane was powering up and we said our goodbyes.

With Jim gone the daily routine got a bit empty,but I still had Rich and Henry, ohh and of course Katya. It was November and the nights were dipping into the freezing zone. I don't think I had seen the sunshine in weeks,it's always that gloomy grey sky that one has harboured in his mind from seeing old photo's of the USSR. It's gets depressing to me ,but I let it fall in the category of not being there to get a winter tan.

I was counting the weeks since departing Canada,and how the seasons had changed,and how this little adventure was panning out. The times with Katya were progressing very well, she liked me and I liked her, I didn't have to go on blind dates, or sit in a I-net cafe scrolling past endless profiles of girls. Things were for the most part, as normal as one can get when dating. I kept my apartment, and she lived only about 20 minutes walking distance away,so it was all good.

It was time for Rich to head back to the UK,his 2 weeks were up and he wished he could of stayed,but the vacation time was over. We agreed to keep in touch and have done so since. Henry was still around and I would meet up and kill the day with him. He wasn't getting anywhere with finding a girl, and seemed to be in a retreat mode. Maybe he just gave up near the end ,I really don't know. But I do know he came home and took some time off, even contemplated dropping the very idea of finding a FSU girl. But he went about emailing some of the girls he had met in Russia from earlier trips, and has since married a girl from St. Petersburg RU.

With Henry's departure I was without any guys to hang with, my pal Guy in Odessa was too far away for even a cheap chat, Anna was still in Odessa,and I was still concerned for her. She needed time to heal her broken heart,and with the times I spent with her I knew that my timing was all wrong. It bothered me that I couldn't help her to get past all the shit she'd been through with her ex husband. I took some comfort knowing she had a group of good friends, many whom I had met before leaving Odessa. I had gotten to know Anna in a much different light compared to my first visit to her in 2003. By 2005 I was introduced to more of her friends,and saw her in her own environment,conversing without having to speak English to me, even though she spoke very good English. I saw her being herself,often she would stop and translate for me,and even felt that I must be bored as her friends don't speak English. But I was fine with it all,and I was just glad Anna could have some laughs and smile for a night, leaving the ex on the back burner for a few hours.

Anyways back to Dnepropetrovsk, after the guys were all gone things got very quiet. I no longer went to any agency's,so I had no one to just talk with outside of Katya. I also reflected on my crazy 4 month holiday,had a few hard looks at the bank account,evaluated my relationship with Katya, and pondered when would I have to leave. At the same time I was kicking myself for being so down over the girl that got me on the plane way back in August. I also thought about the weeks I wasted not searching full time for a girl, and really just being lazy with the comforts that Odessa provided me. Living with Guy, having Anna there, and English was never far from being spoken. I would even meet up with Matt from time to time,but now it was all gone, and Dnepper was Katya, and only Katya. Not that it was a bad thing,wanting to find a girl is why I flew over here, but shit after 20 weeks I was getting tired of the country.

Once Katya was done with work we would meet up, and on one evening I had planned on cooking a nice dinner. She was into it and this gave me a chance to burn up the day getting the foods that I would need.First stop was the large market at the far end of Karl Marx,I'd take the tram for some of the way,stopping at McDonald's for a small brunch before walking to the market. Once there I began looking for some beef to buy,I really didn't know if it was completely safe to do so ,but the place was already hovering around 10c so the meats wouldn't be spoiling too quickly. I make my way down one of the aisles where the chunks of meat are out on display,as I'm walking I'm wondering just how fresh these meats may be. Than in behind the display counters there lying in a pool of blood, was the cows head ! Yup it's fresh ! This market has none of that silly shrink wrapped foods, it was a about as raw as the slaughterhouse. So I bought a chunk ,maybe 2kg's and paid a small amount for it. And I wondered why I wasn't eating like a Lord for the past few weeks. At this point I was down almost 10kg's in body weight since leaving Canada, even with eating McD's 5 x a week. It's amazing what a couple hours a day of walking will do for ones health. After the meat buying, I'd always stop off at my friendly apricot salesman. Even though he couldn't speak much English ,he was always smiling when seeing me,and I guess buying a kilo of apricots off him didn't hurt. So I had the dinner all bought, meat potatoes,rice,and a stirfry. I even got some coffee and tea, not that I drink the stuff,but I thought maybe she'd want some afterwards.

The dinner went fine,I had a hard time keeping the food warm under the gas oven,and it got slightly charred . Katya just kept that sly smile going,not wanting to comment on the dried out meat. It was more palatable with the wine,but even I was pissed at how it was a failure. No matter,we head off to the living room and spend the evening talking. I knew this chick has seen her fair share of western men, and I knew that most of them would jump her if given the chance. So my strategy was to play it very cool,not get aroused and let her do all the talking. She'd drop little words here and there,trying to gauge my reaction,and I just held off saying much. You see I remember what she had told me weeks before,and from those conversations I decided I wasn't going to be the typical guy. But I guess after a couple of hours she finally dropped the bomb, " you wanna me baby ?" I found this to be quite funny and simply grinned, thinking to myself she has pulled out all the stops,and has nothing left to get a rise out of me. She did spend the night,but we never had sex. It was difficult to keep calm,but I knew it would be for the betterment of our relationship.

In the morning she wanted coffee,and I was glad that I picked up a small container of the stuff,for this very reason. So I went about making my first ever cup of coffee.... I had no clue how to make it, inside the jar was all crumbly and I wasn't sure if I needed a filter, or if it was strained out afterwards. But I knew enough to boil the water. So after staring at the Russian label,and really feeling somewhat stupid at being 37yo and not knowing how to make coffee, I kept at it hoping the answer would come to me. After several minutes Katya comes around the corner and wonders what the hell I am doing. I have no defence, I look at her with a biwildered look and she takes the jar and dumps the stuff into the hot water. Gives it a stir and looks at me like I'm a retard. " Enjoy the coffee dear."

As the following days went by Katya and I became closer,it all seemed very normal. There was no countdown calender for a departure. No race to get laid before having to head home, just a normal pace that a relationship takes. Things with Katya were getting to the point that I felt we could be apart,and I would return to see her in 3-4 months time. It was during the last week that she told me her brother was coming to visit her from Russia. She hadn't seen him in a few years,and I was thinking maybe this is a good time to go home, let her visit with family and pick it up in the springtime. A few days after she told me about the brother's visit, I made my mind up that I would fly home. Kat and I were at a point that I felt we had enough to continue without too many problems from being apart. I also considered staying and heading to Odessa for the week,and coming back to see her, but my decision came very quickly,while out walking. That night I told her I needed to book a ticket and the following day,I had my ticket to leave the next day. Katya wanted to know when I would come back,and understood why I had to go. 22 weeks with no income it was kind of nuts,and if I wanted to return I needed to earn some money badly. We said our goodbyes,and I flew to Kiev. From there I called up Guy and told him I'm leaving, I also called Anna, and wished her the best.

As I made my way to the passport control the guy takes my passport, has a look at my arrival date, and does some quick math... Where is your visa for staying more than 90 days ? It was at this point where I knew I should not have trusted Guy weeks before by telling me he was the 'Warden of Odessa' ! :

Like WTF is that anyway you ask ? Well according to him he was given some powers by the Canadian Embassy to help Canadian's in Odessa. I was with him the night he emailed the Embassy in Kiev with my info regarding the extended stay. A few taps of the keys and he proudly said it was all taken care of. However I guess the " paperwork" never got into the Ukrainian government's data base,and when I told the guard that the 'Warden' had sent it via email,and that I never got any papers from him. He doesn't look very impressed with my answers, and annoyingly stamps the passport allowing me to get out of the country.

After I cleared the gate I called up Karina from Zaporozhye, she is the one with an agency. I tell her I may of found the one and she is happy for me and wishes me the best. I have nothing but good things to say about her. She helped me out so much with setting up dates,that I have always recommended her to others. A little talk with Katya and I was off to the 1st world !

I got a flight on Aerosvit Airlines,it was my first time with them,and well... it was entertaining ! First the TV didn't work so the steward walks up to it and begins smacking it ! I began thinking if the bird was as sound as it should be. Touching down in Germany was like stepping into a different world,I had some slight culture shock. There were girls all dressed so different and much larger than you see in UA. The place was clean,and orderly. People smiled & there were lots of items for sale in the stores, and even some very familiar American restaurants. But the girls were gone,no slim skirted boot wearin girls, just plainly dressed girls,not looking very good at all. I was shocked,at how much difference there was,after 4 months of seeing nice girls I had just stepped into a bad time warp...

Touching down in Toronto after four months of being out of Canada, was a great feeling ! I had lots to reflect on during my flight over the Atlantic, and while waiting for the departure in Kiev's airport. For one I was so happy to be a Canadian, I now knew completely how privileged I was to hold the citizenship. And with all the domestic problems that Canada may have ,it's so far from the issues that Ukraine has. Legal , social, political, healthcare and corruption, are but a few problems that both countries have to some extent, but Canada's woes fall far behind those in UA. The lack of an effective social net in UA is one of the most troubling for me. Old age pensions are so meager that many widows must seek out some form of work to help them survive monthly. One night while out walking with Katya I was asking her what kind of work could I possibly do if I was to stay here. I told her teaching is out, and that would leave me with sweeping the streets like so many seniors do during the overnight shift. Not very appealing to me, and than she told me they earn only about $40 per month. So with the pension and sweeping duties many are making $100 a month to live on. I know of two pensioners one who makes $40 p/m and the other earns $200 p/m. It's no suprise some of them team up to live together, just to make ends meet. And after seeing my little orphan friend in Odessa, I can only think about his very dismal future. Most wind up on drugs in later years and end up in jail. And again I reflect on how easy we have it here, we can bitch about taxes up our asses, government stupidity in it's finest form. A law system that needs attention but is somewhat effective. At least it doesn't have lawyers, cops, and judges all on the take ,willing to turn a case around if you have enough money to pay the ranks off. I was told in 2003 that you could bribe your way out of a murder charge for $10 000. It just goes to show what real poverty is, and how we in the west have such a hard time understanding why such things happen.You can be poor in Canada living on welfare and still be light years ahead of the poor in Ukraine. Anyway...

Jumping back abit I kept in contact with Anna from Odessa. I just wanted to be a good friend to someone who needed support in a difficult time of her life. I also did my best to keep sexy Sveta's attention first mentioned on page two. On the night of the Kristina blowout at Yo Club, SS was there and looking damn good She was off in a area away from the group with a friend of hers, and I wanted to make it known I was wanting to see her again. So over I went hoping that there would be no phone calls or SMS's coming from Kristina while I was talking to SS. While I was talking with her she seemed to stop short of asking if we could meet again before I left. I could see her wanting to say something but really enjoyed seeing her all nervous. Than with a elbow delivered by her friend Niome to her backside causing her to sway forward, she finally coughed it up and I of course agreed. But Sveta is a interesting character, I tried on a few occasions but something always kept her from meeting the date, so I gave up. I called her the night before I left for Dnepropetrovsk , told her I was leaving and wished I had the opportunity to take her out for that drink we agreed upon. She seemed sad I was moving on, but hey I can't wait weeks for a night out. More on SS later...

Back home I'm getting things organised, calling up friends & clients and seeing if I have any business left. As strange as it may seem things were pretty much normal upon my return. I had some clients get others to fill the void ,and some waited until I got home to begin on their projects. Katya was on my mind and I would call her and we'd discuss what the future may hold. As time slipped by she seemed somewhat different, the phone calls were beginning to seem awkward. I soon found myself talking to a girl, instead of talking with a girl I knew. Maybe my earlier thoughts of having a stable relationship in it's early stages was premature, or she wasn't as committed to continuing this as much as we thought. At any rate the calls to her diminished, nothing was said to end it, but it just fizzled to nothing. It was alittle troubling, I spent 4 months in that country, gave it a half ass attempt for most of the time, and thought I had a girl at the end of four months.

During this down time Sveta and I would send emails and Niome once again set her up on a MSN chat account. This was a first for me having a live chat with a FSU girl and Sveta seemed to be dialled in to all of it. The hours she spent on MSN with me instead of doing her job was quite amusing. Having met Sveta before in a social setting and at the school was a welcome relief from those Odessa agency girls, who for the most part were a complete waste of time. With phone calls,SMS, emails and MSN chat, it wasn't long before I was thinking about getting back on the planes to Odessa to see if sexy Sveta could be the one.

All the while I am thinking maybe I should have shown some patience back in the autumn, and seen if I had a shot at dating Sveta it would of been nice... I was already there... could of saved a few thousand dollars...jet lag...hours spent on the PC...arranging flights...ughhh. :'(

So armed with a bounty of air travel points I begin my flight itinerary. Calling the booking centre I get my departure flight locked in, now booking agent is trying to get me back in 3 weeks time and during the summer seats are scarce. Nothing in 3 weeks, moving along she finds the month of July sold out ! Hmm, I'm thinking at best this is now a 5 week vacation, and as time slipped by, so did my return date. 6..7..8..9 weeks. I'm having doubts about this point system plan. They make it sound so nice and easy, yet it isn't working the way I thought it should. Finally after about 45 minutes she has it all figured out, depart late June, return early September. 10 weeks I ask her is the shortest time span ? " Yes many people book these seats almost a year in advance." Wow, who the hell can plan like that I thought to myself. And without thinking of any consequences I booked my return to Ukraine.My friends are now thinking I am nuts, I quietly was beginning to think I was too, it felt like I had just left there, but there was girl to be pursued, and I wasn't going to find out unless I took another chance at heading off to meet her. My pal Andre in Toronto couldn't believe I would leave when I was with Katya after seeing her photo's....I kinda agreed with him. But you spend 22 weeks in UA and tell me how your doing ! I may have made it if they had nachos for sale, but I never found any. And good pizza would of helped too!

Who is online

Registered users: Bing [Bot]

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum